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''The Littl' Bits'', known in Japan as ''Mori no Youkina Kobito-tachi'': ''Belfy to Lillibit'' (''Cheerful Dwarves of the Forest'': ''Belfy and Lillibit'') was a children's anime created by Creator/TatsunokoProduction and aired on Creator/TVTokyo (then known as Tokyo 12 Channel)[[note]]Reruns in Japan post-1981 displayed the TV Tokyo logo, rather than the Tokyo 12 Channel logo, in the opening credits[[/note]] in 1980[[note]]As Tokyo 12 was an independent station without its own network at the time, the show was seen on Creator/FujiTV, [[Creator/TokyoBroadcastingSystem TBS]], Creator/TVAsahi or Creator/NipponTV affiliates in other cities[[/note]], brought to North America and shown on Creator/NickJr in the U.S. and Creator/{{YTV}} in Canada in the early 1990s after having already aired in most of Europe and Latin America. It focused on a race of tiny people living in a place known as Foothill Forest. While the show usually had lessons to teach, it did so in a subtle, non-{{Anvilicious}} manner.

Not to be confused with ''Literature/TheLittles'' (though both deal in {{Lilliputians}}). Also noteworthy for being an early voice role for future seiyuu superstar Creator/MayumiTanaka, as the male lead.
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!!This show contains examples of:

* TheAce: Willabit is a minor version
* AdultsAreUseless:
** Subverted; the children go on a lot of wild adventures but their parents and other guardians are always there to worry about them and help them out.
** However, there were a few moments when the adults actually WERE useless and needed the kids to show them the errors of their ways - notably, the "Election Day" episode, where the kids have to remind the apathetic adults to cast their ballots; and [[spoiler: the "Wanderbits" episode, in which a tearful Lillibit decides to leave the village with her parents after her parents are rejected by the adults, and Willibit and the other children declare their intentions to leave with her, thus forcing a change of heart in their parents]].
* AlternativeForeignThemeSong: The [[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjs0c0_yyyyyyyyy-yyyyyyyyyyy-op_music#.USGpwmcrGSo Japanese theme song]] is different from the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X9Wk6hCois English theme song]] and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjgZUP2pL6s Spanish one]].
* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Teenybit (Chuchuna), to Willibit (Lillibit).
* BeachEpisode: "Let's Go To The Sea".
* BettyAndVeronica: Gender-flipped and averted; while the two guys fought over the girl, Lillibit made her preference for Willabit perfectly clear, though she did like Snagglebit very much as a friend.
* {{Bowdlerise}}:
** Uncle Snoozabit was originally a habitual drinker; in English they edited that to his being simply lazy. And what was obviously wine that he was drinking was explained away as "dandelion juice."
** Also, numerous scenes in which the kids are nude while swimming (although presented tastefully and in a non-sexual way) were cut in the English dub.
* ChildrenAreInnocent
* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Snagglebit, sort of. He tended to argue with the others and want his own way a lot, but he was never painted as a bad person because of it or humiliated into learning a lesson every episode.
* CulturalTranslation: Although the original Japanese version predated ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'', the show did not make its way Stateside until the early 1990s, thus the reason why a Smurf-like naming scheme is used in the English version. Most other versions of the show kept the original Japanese names for the characters or some variation thereof, but in English, this resulted in a DubNameChange for virtually every character: Belfy became "Lillibit", Lillibit became "Willibit" (yes, Lillibit was the name of the male, and not the female, lead in the original), Chuchuna became "Teenybit" and so on. The English name changes even carried over into some later European dubs (e.g. Dutch).
* {{Determinator}}: Chip in episode 2. He wants to be a doctor and he won't take no for an answer, he'll even wait out in the rain until Dr. Snoozabit agrees to take him on as an assistant.
* DubNameChange: The biggest example of this would be the English version, which changed virtually all of the characters' names (see CulturalTranslation above). Also in one of the French dubs, Belfy and Lillibit became Lutinette and Lutinou.
* EyelidPullTaunt: Teenybit gives Willibit one in "The Strange Egg," after getting him in trouble for losing his temper with her.
* FestivalEpisode: Episode One, "The Children's Festival."
* FillingTheSilence: Quite a bit in the English dub as was the norm for anime dubs in that era. This becomes obvious watching the uncut (and more faithfully dubbed) Spanish version.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Lillibit, so much that she can even ''communicate'' with animals
* GreenEyedMonster: Snagglebit's feelings for Lillibit every now and then
* ItWasWithYouAllAlong: Browniebit's quest to find a certain feather he was told would grant him courage. Though he failed to actually get it, the fact that he'd climbed a treacherous mountain in order to find it was bravery in and of itself.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Snagglebit and his father, Mayor Bossabit
* LethalChef: Inverted in the episode "Poor Old Helpabit." Mayor Bossabit is entering Helpabit's signature honey recipe into the village tasting contest, and is enthusiastic about his chances of winning since Helpabit allegedly has a secret ingredient: the nectar of a special flower. However, after the nectar is added, the honey tastes awful, and Helpabit gets such a severe dressing-down from the mayor that he decides to leave the village, convinced his recipe is a failure. Later on, however, on a second tasting, the honey is delicious, and Helpabit decides to stay just in time for his honey to win first prize. See also the ''Anime/AdventuresOfTheLittleKoala'' episode "Papa Makes a Pie."
* LetsGetDangerous: Dr. Snoozabit is a lazy drunk, but when there's serious medical business to be dealt with he'll do it 110%. ''Even if he himself is in pain after falling into a hole.''
* {{Lilliputians}}: They are even specifically referred to as such in the Spanish version, and "Lillibit" (the name of the male lead in most versions and of the female lead in the English version) is likely a reference to Lilliput as well.
* MouseWorld
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: In "The Mystical Monument". Snagglebit, after being a first-class {{Jerkass}} to Browniebit over losing a bullfrog rodeo, immediately regrets his behavior when he finds out Browniebit has gone off to explore a dangerous cave. He even outright admits it's his fault.
** "Help the Squirrel": Willibit and Snagglebit experience this after they injure a mother squirrel who was in the process of stealing their picnic basket - as it turns out, to feed her hungry brood. The squirrel subsequently develops a life-threateningly high fever and the boys, racked with guilt, head off for the mountains to gather much-needed ice.
** "Madam Bella the Weaver": Rosiebit, who is competing against Lillibit for the job of being the village's next head weaver (a position Rosiebit believes is rightfully hers, since she's Madam Bella's granddaughter), steals Lillibit's yellow dye to jeopardize Lillibit's chances of winning. Lillibit heads to the mountains to gather flowers to make more dye, and not until she and Willibit (who has gone out to look for her) are trapped by an avalanche does Rosiebit realize how wrong what she did was.
** "Earthquake!": Snuffly the flying squirrel keeps disrupting Lillibit's games with her friends, and Lillibit finally loses her temper and yells at him to leave her alone. As a result, Snuffly runs away, and Lillibit feels horrible when she realizes how she hurt his feelings.
* NameAndName: The show is titled the vernacular equivalent of ''Belfy and Lillibit'' in just about every foreign dub ''but'' English.
* TheNapoleon: Snagglebit. His original name even ''was'' Napoleon! (and was kept as such in other languages like Spanish and Portuguese).
* NeverSayDie: The English dub is inconsistent on this. In "Earthquake!", Doctor Snoozeabit relates the story of how he found Snuffly (the flying squirrel) as a baby next to his dead mother, but regarding the mother's fate, only says that she "hadn't been so lucky" as her son. However, in "Help the Squirrel," it's made perfectly clear, even in the English script, that the ailing mother squirrel may die and her children may be left motherless. And of course, there was no way to whitewash the fact that Lillibit believes her parents are dead [[spoiler:until episode 25]].
* OneShotCharacter: Susiebit in "Forget-Me-Nots." Despite being one of the principal characters of that episode, she wasn't seen again except for a brief cameo in the final episode.
** Also, Rosiebit in "Madam Bella the Weaver."
* ParentalAbandonment: Lillibit is an orphan who lives with her uncle. [[spoiler: That's what she's been ''told'', anyway. It's later revealed that her parents are actually still alive, but were members of a shunned race called Wanderbits and gave up their daughter to Dr. Snoozabit - who is ''not'' Lillibit's blood uncle - so she could live a normal and happy life in Foothill Forest.]]
** MissingMom: In addition to Lillibit, Snagglebit's mother died when he was very young.
* PinkGirlBlueBoy: Character designer Akiko Shimomoto used this trope in not only this series but several other Tatsunoko shows she worked on, including ''Anime/{{Superbook}}'', ''Paul's Miraculous Adventure'', and ''Temple the Balloonist.''
* PluckyGirl: Lillibit. While she isn't a {{Tomboy}}, she's as brave and adventurous as any of the boys, and even plays sports such as hockey with them.
* SayYourPrayers: How Teenybit saves the day, and possibly the village, in the episode "The Red Rainbow." After losing the fruits and vegetables Scarybit and the kids intended to use as an offering to the angry forest spirits, Teenybit drops to her knees and sweetly asks the gods to have mercy. Her prayer changes the titular red rainbow to a regular rainbow, a sign that the gods are no longer angry, and everyone rejoices.
* SneezeCut: Happens in the episode "Scarybit the Witch," when Willibit's mother warns the children about what might happen if they run into the titular witch. Cut to Scarybit's house, where she lets out a huge sneeze. The English dialogue even references the origin of the joke indirectly by having Scarybit comment, "I'm gettin' vibes that somebody in this forest is talking about me."
* TagalongKid: Willabit's sister Teenybit
* ThreePlusTwo: Snagglebit, Willabit and Lillibit are the lead trio. Chip and Browniebit are Snagglebit's close friends outside the two others and while important (and even the protagonists of their own episodes), they don't get ''so'' much face time as the former three. In later episodes Chip's role as Snaggle's sidekick is often taken by another boy, called Ricky by Snagglebit in one episode.
* TrueCompanions: Seen in the episode "The Wanderbits." [[spoiler:After Lillibit declares that if her parents have to leave Foothill Forest, she'll go with them, her friends and the rest of the children in the village announce they're leaving as well unless the grown-ups let Lillibit's parents stay. The grown-ups are forced to relent, lest they lose their children.]]
* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Lillibit, Willabit and Snagglebit most of the time
* VitriolicBestBuds: Willibit and Snagglebit. They get along fairly well most of the time, but when they don't, it's likely to be over Lillibit. This is occasionally PlayedForLaughs, in moments when Lillibit witnesses their arguments and gives them a KubrickStare, leading the boys to immediately make up and act like best friends.
* WhamEpisode: The end of the series gives us not one, but two. In episode 25, [[spoiler:Lillibit's parents return after having been presumed dead for the entire series thus far.]] And in episode 26, just as everything seems idyllic, [[spoiler:Foothill Forest is destroyed by an earthquake. Although all of the main characters appear to be safe and unhurt, they ''do'' lose everything and even consider abandoning their ruined village until the kids convince them to stay and rebuild.]]
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